Cigarette extinguisher



June 29, 1965 J. a. LICATA 3,

CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHER Filed June 22, 1962 mmvron JOSE/ h 6. 4/0172:

United States Patent 3,191,608 CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHER Joseph G. Licata,2,495 Queensberry Road, Pasadena, Calif. Filed June 22, 1962, Ser. No.204,313 lClaim. (Cl. 131-456) This invention relates to a cigaretteextinguisher.

Particularly when riding in automobiles, smokers are aware of thediificulties inherent in the disposition of a burning cigarette. Thealternatives at the present time are to throw away the burning cigarettewhich is unlawful or to snuff it out in the car ashtray, either byrubbing it against a surface, or by letting it burn out. When thecigarette is extinguished in the car as aforesaid, the smoke, ashes, andremaining butts are malodorous, and remain so, even when cold.

It is an object of this invention to provide ameans for extinguishing aburning cigarette with Water, and for enabling a thoroughly extinguishedbutt to be thrown away so that there is no residue remaining to smell upthe car or room.

A cigarette extinguisher according to this invention includes astructure which encloses a hydrostatic dome that has an upper hermeticseal. This structure includes an upwardly facing opening in fluidcommunication with the upper hermetic seal and at a lower elevation, sothat the dome may be substantially filled with water, the region at theupper hermetic seal being subatmospheric. Water will stand at theopening thereby permitting a cigarette tip to be immersed therein. Thisstructure has the additional advantage that water will not spill outeven when the car is put through sharp maneuvers.

A preferred but optional feature of this invention resides in formingthe structure as a volume of revolution, with an external wall and areentrant neck. The opening is disposed at the center of this neck, andforms a valve seat beneath which there is placed a buoyant valve memberwhich floats upwardly to close the opening. This provides an additionalassurance that the water will not spill, both by valving it at theopening and by providing a restricted passage which can be very narrowas compared to its height.

The above and other features of this invention will be fully understoodfrom the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a cross section taken at line 1--1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross section of an alternate embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 3, with the top removed.

FIG. 1 illustrates the presently preferred embodiment of the invention.It includes a hermetic dome structure which is a volume of revolutionbounded by an external wall 11 with a mouth 12 at its lower end and areentrant neck 13 at its center. The neck slopes downwardly and inwardlytoward the mouth and forms an opening 14 which faces upwardly in FIG. 1.The neck is prefera-bly much narrower than it is tall, to minimizesloshing of water which might be in it.

The opening is in fluid communication with an upper hermetic seal 15.This seal is comprised of the upper imperforate interior surface of thestructure. The structure may be filled with a fluid such as water 16. Inaccordance with known physical principles, a region 17 at the upperhermetic seal will assume a substantially subatmospheric pressure.

A valve seat 18 is formed around the opening at the lower end of theneck, which is adapted to be sealed by a valve member 19. The valvemember is buoyant. It is preferably made of two layers: a lower buoyantlayer "ice 20 of a foam material suchas polyethylene foam and an uppermetal, heat conductive layer 21 which can receive the heat of a burningcigarette tip and conduct it away without damaging the lower buoyantlayer material. The two layers are bonded together.

i The valve member has a pair of guide passages 22, 23 therethrough toreceive guide posts 24, 25 respectively. The guide posts are integralwith the lower inside portion of the neck surface and project downwardlyso as to guide the valve member in its up and down movement.

The closure 26 comprises a lid for the mouth, and completes the hermeticdome structure. The dome has a hooked flange 27 at the lower endthereof, adapted to engage a shoulder 28 on the external wall, therebymaking a continous fluid seal at the bottom of the dome structure.Alternatively the closure engagement could be by other means, such asthreads. The closure should be relatively easily removed so that thedevice can be filled with water. p i

The opening at the center of the neck should be located far enough abovethe closure that the tip of a cigarette can be moved well past theopening. If the opening is too close to the closure, then the valvemember will strike the .closure and prevent the cigarette from going farenough into the water. The bottom of the neck is located about inch to 1inch above the closure, although this is not a limitation on theinvention.

The closure is provided with a pair of recesses 29, 30 within whichmagnets 31, 32 may be fastened. The function .of these magnets or ofequivalent attachment means such as adhesive patches and the like is tohold the closure, and thereby the entire hermetic dome structure,

' to a supporting object such as the dash board of an automobile or theinstrument panel of an aircraft.

The device of FIG. 3 is a variation of that of FIG. 1. it includes ahermetic dome structure 35 which has an external wall 36, a bottom 37,and a removable top 38. An upper hermetic seal 39 is formed by the topand the wall to create a region 40 of subatmospheric pressure when thedevice is filled with water.

A lower ash receiver 41 has a top 42, bottom 43, and sidewall 44. Anopening 45 is formed in the top. The top intersects the wall of the domestructure, and the sidewall intersects the bottom of the dome structure.A passage 46 is formed between the intersectiing surfaces such that thetop of the ash receiver is lower than the bottom of the dome structure.Passage 46 therefore depends downwardly from the dome structure into theash receiver. With the structure shown, the device appears to performoptinally. The relative elevations between the bottom of the domestructure and the top of the ash receiver appear to aid thisperformance.

The use and operation of these devices should be evident from thedrawings. With respects to FIG. 1, the device is inverted and theclosure taken off, whereupon the device is filled with water at least tothe level of the opening. Preferably the opening is plugged with afinger while filling, so that even more water can be put in. Then theclosure is placed on the dome structure and the device is inverted tothe position of FIG. 1, and the finger re moved.

The valve member is not essential to the operation of either embodimentof the invention and is an optional feature thereof. Even with the valvemember removed, water will not rise far above the bottom of the neck dueto the subatmospheric pressure in region 17. When the valve member isnot provided, the cigarette tip is simply passed through the loweropening and isdoused by water. When the valve member is provided, thecigarette is pushed against the valve member to push it down whichenables the cigarette to be passed through the opening. After thecigarette is doused, and as it is removed the valve member buoyantlymoves up again to close the opening. Again, there will be no substantialtendency for water to escape, because of the su-batmospheric pressure inregion 17. The valve member does however give some assurance to theusers that water will not spill and may be preferred when used invehicles subject to violent manuevers such as aircraft and the like.

The use of the two layered valve member is a conveni-- ence in that itprevents the cigarette from burning and destroying the buoyant portionof the valve member by conducting heat away from it rapidly during thetime that the cigarette is pressed against it and is still glowing.

It is. found that a layer of aluminum foil about 0.003 inch thick issuitable to protect a foam layer of dimensions about /2 by 1 /2 inch by5 inch thick.

In the device of FIG. 3, as in the device of FIG. 1, there is areservoir of water, so that water is always avail able. Also there is anegative pressure at the upper hermetic seal which prevents the waterfrom running out, thereby providing a significant advantage over the useof a simple open-topped reservoir structure.

This invention provides in simple easily constructed devices, reliableand convenient means for extinguishing the tip of a burning cigaretteand thereby'making it readily and safely disposable.

Instead of water, other non-inflammable liquids may be used particularlyin hot or cold climates where Water might evaporate quickly or freeze.Glycol-s are one example. Another expedient is to dissolve electrolytessuch as sodium chloride in water.

- The invention is not to be limited by the embodiments shownin thedrawings and described in the description which are. given by way ofexample and not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope ofthe appended claim.

I claim:

A cigarette extinguisher for dousing a burning cigarette with a liquid,comprising: a hydrostatic dome structure having a re-entrant center neckwith a central opening,

a closed and an open end providing an internal cavity 4 in the form of asurface of revolution surrounding said neck and extending axiallyoutwardlyfrom the opening; 7

.ment of the float.

2:1. an external lip on the dome at its open end; a fluid-tight lid witha peripheral flange adapted to snap over and continuously engage the lipto make a hermetic seal, the lid being imperforate, and extending acrossthe open end to close the same, the opening standing substantiallycloser to the lid than to the closed end of the dome, whereby a majorproportion of the volume of the dome structure lies above the openingwhen the assembled lid and dome structure stands on the lid, and wherebya sub stantially subatmospheric pressure is developed in the cavity as aconsequence of the fluid interconnection between the opening and theinside of the closed end of the dome structure whereby liquid will standat the level of the opening and not flow out, while backed upby asubstantial quantity of liquid; guide posts attachedto the inside of thestructure and projecting downwardly; a buoyant valve member in thecavity beneath the opening adapted to raise and close the same, saidvalve member comprising a layer of buoyant foam material, and an upperlayer of metalliconductive material and including a guide passagerespective to each guide post for guiding the buoyant valve member, saidguide posts engaging the float member at the guide posts to restrictlateral move- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS221,816 11/79 Hennessy 137-433 X 843,367 2/07 Schlapp -68 1,006,403 10/11 Robertson 137-433 2,098,337 11/37 Edwards 131-256 2,620,805 12/52Page et a1 131-236 X 2,779,342 1/57 Myers 131-256 2,879,776 3/59 Martinet a1 131-256 2,931,367 4/60 Glenny 131-256 FOREIGN PATENTS 276,758 9/27Great Britain.

564,678 10/44 Great Britain.

ABRAHAM .G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Examiner.

